Relationship Between Leukopenia and Intercellular Adhesion Molecules in Graves' Disease
Y Gao
HJ Shen
P Zhou
H Hu
JL Tang
LL Peng
J Tong
Vol 63, Issue 6: Oct (2014)
Objective: Changes in soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and E-selectin levels as well as leukocyte count were examined in this study to explore the relationship between leukopenia and ICAMs in Graves' disease (GD).
Methods: Fasting blood samples were obtained from 37 GD patients with normal leukocytes and 32 GD patients with leukopenia. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to determine serum sICAM-1 and E-selectin levels for comparison. The same analyses were repeated for the GD patients with leukopenia after glucocorticoid treatment (15 mg/day to 30 mg/day prednisone).
Results: The ELISA results showed that E-selectin levels were higher in GD patients with leukopenia than those with normal leukocytes (p < 0.05), but these levels decreased after glucocorticoid (prednisone) treatment (p < 0.05). No significant change in sICAM-1 levels was observed (p = 0.12). Correlation analysis showed that leukocyte count and E-selectin were negatively correlated (r = −0.778; p < 0.05).
Conclusion: E-selectin may have an important function in GD with leukopenia, and glucocorticoids (prednisone) could decrease E-selectin level, which may be a new therapy target for GD with leukopenia.
Graves' disease
intercellular adhesion molecule
gao_et_al-role_of_adhesion_molecule_in_graves_disease_with_leukopenia.pdf